Risk & Business Magazine Lloyd Sadd Insurance Brokers Fall 2016 | Page 28

EQUIPMENT THEFT

Equipment Theft On The Rise
In An Economic Downturn
Creating A Record
“TAKE AN
INVENTORY OF
WHAT YOU HAVE
AND REVIEW
THEIR VALUES
ANNUALLY TO
ENSURE YOU
ARE PROPERLY
PROTECTED.”

28

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FALL 2016

E

quipment theft costs businesses
millions of dollars each year.
Even if the equipment is insured,
there is still a deductible to
be paid, paperwork to fill out,
downtime, and lost productivity until
the equipment is replaced. If you’re lucky
and the equipment is insured for full
replacement cost (which can vary by policy
and may be extended as far as five years
after the date of purchase), you still may
end up with increased premiums on your
renewal due to this unfortunate event. If
you’re not lucky, the equipment may not be
insured or may be underinsured, in which
case your business will be forced to pay the
difference between the depreciated value
and the replacement cost.

Make sure you monitor the value of your
equipment. With the Canadian dollar at
roughly 75 percent of its value from three
years ago, that $30,000 piece of equipment
may now cost you in excess of $40,000 to
replace. Its depreciated value may have
risen as well. Take an inventory of what
you have and review their values annually
to ensure you are properly protected. It’s
up to you as the policyholder to prove the
loss, and the better you are at keeping
equipment records, the easier it will be to
quantify and replace what was lost.
At a minimum, you should record the make,
model, serial number, and date of purchase
for larger equipment and document a
description and the date of purchase for
smaller tools. They say a picture is worth